Virgin Media is cutting 900 jobs in the UK over the next two years, and has begun consulting with the employees affected.

The company said it was restructuring in order to expand, and would continue to create new roles and recruit in areas driving growth.

One such area of growth is Virgin Media's five year programme to extend its ultrafast broadband network, Project Lightning. It will invest £3bn in the project, which will create 6,000 new jobs in the UK at Virgin Media and across construction partners, including 1,000 new apprenticeships.

Overall, the company expects to increase the total number of people it employs directly and with outsourced partners in the UK and abroad from around 23,000 to more than 25,000 in 2016 and 26,000 in 2017.

Tom Mockridge, chief executive of Virgin Media, said: “Over the last three years Virgin Media has been transformed. We’re expanding, investing and growing our business. The proposed reorganisation will give us an even sharper focus on the customer, network expansion and business growth.”

The telecoms firm was bought by American tycoon John Malone's Liberty Global, the largest cable company in the world, in 2013 for £15bn.